Tightly grasping the arm of the Despair Knight, George exerted all his strength and threw him upwards with force, describing a full circle in mid-air.
Hovering in mid-air, the Despair Knight's head was below and feet above, his body suddenly flipped over.
At this moment, he lost his point of leverage and sense of direction, immediately reversed his grip on the Thunder Sword, danced a sword flourish in the air, swiftly assumed a posture resembling drawing a bow, and accurately thrust the sword towards George's forehead.
George's eyes gleamed with fierceness as he took a step forward, not retreating but advancing, raising his hand to fiercely meet the sword edge coming at him from the Despair Knight.
"Playing with swords in front of me... Like taking a long-handled ax to a craftsman's door!"
"Tocamak Ring Heat Model - Sun Sword."
A flamboyant broadsword, burning with unparalleled sword intent, appeared in George's hand.
With a strange posture, holding the Flame Sword, she swiftly spun around, then, as if pulling a taut slingshot, she thrust the Flame Sword directly at the Thunder Sword in the Despair Knight's hand.
This strike carried the force of a thousand catties.
The clash of thunder and fire wove a dense net-like sphere, sending the Despair Knight flying instantly.
Of course, Duke George himself wasn't faring too well at this moment; she appeared noticeably more disheveled than before, with various parts of her body showing varying degrees of injuries.
However, in order to conserve magic power, she had no intention of healing herself for now.
Merka, standing behind Duke George, was dumbfounded, never having seen such a ferocious fighting style akin to a beast risking its life.
"Xiangjun! Wait for us at a place downstairs with a motorcycle. We'll come pick you up after we deal with this monster."
"Merka, come with me. I need you to launch a diversion."
Duke George said as she demonstrated magic gestures, leaping into the thunderclouds without waiting for Merka to follow, and directly chasing after the Despair Knight's landing point.
"Your Grace...!"
Merka was somewhat skeptical of this reckless strategy, but seeing George's decisive actions, he reluctantly followed suit.
Upon entering the thunderclouds, albeit only outer layers, Merka immediately began to feel a burning sensation as if his whole body was peeling off.
Dense electric arcs attached themselves to Merka's body, burning certain delicate spots on his skin open, causing him to groan in pain involuntarily.
Meanwhile, George, seemingly impervious to pain, surveyed her surroundings expressionlessly, searching for any trace of the Despair Knight.
"I exchanged a few moves with it before coming here. I found that ordinary magic is hard to harm its body, let alone it has strong self-healing abilities."
"So, I'm going to use the Volcano Mode."
"Before the Volcano Mode ends, you are responsible for distractions."
As George's words fell, a surging vitality burst forth from her like solar corona on the surface of the sun. Glowing tattoo patterns, like golden snakes, emanated from the center of George's pupils, instantly spreading across her entire body.
Casually tearing off the tattered upper half of her noble dress, she revealed slender and muscular like pebbles inside. George's chest was covered with intricate tattoos, completely devoid of the shy connotations of femininity, now exuding a fierce and unrestrained martial intent.
With her shoulder-length hair freely cascading down like a dance, she exuded a blood-curdling murderous aura.
George's eyes widened with anger, her unparalleled momentum escalating instantly. Even though the Sun Sword in her hand had already dissipated, Merka had no doubt that she was now a hundred times more dangerous, perhaps even a thousand times more so, than before.
"...Lady Duke, it seems like it's heading deep into the thunderclouds."
Merka pointed towards the depths of the thunderclouds, informing George.
One of the clones Merka just released had already discovered the Despair Knight's trail.
Without saying a word, George charged straight towards the direction indicated by Merka.
However, as Merka watched George's hastening figure, he couldn't help but feel uneasy.
Why? These divided angels shouldn't have much intelligence. At their best, their behavioral patterns would merely be extensions of the memories left by their original selves.
Why does it seem like it's now guiding us into a trap?
Could someone be controlling it?
Is it those heretics?
But how are they controlling angels?
It's strange that the red dragon just seen could join forces with those heretics...
Considering the angel he fought against with the Dunkirk instructor before, they didn't seem to have much reason...
Let alone distinguishing between friend and foe.
Could it be that each of those heretics can curse people?
As they ventured deeper into the depths of the thunderclouds, the dense thunderstorms didn't allow Merka to think about anything else.
He had to employ Mulan's ace technique — the Thunder Art, wrapping himself in a layer that could withstand the strikes of thunder claws, in order to continue progress.
Before long, they arrived at a clearing, which seemed to be the center of the thunderclouds.
And in the center of the thunderclouds, the Despair Knight stood towering on a throne fashioned from various scrap metals, exuding an exotic Middle-Eastern vibe. It was as if he was contemplating history from afar, guarding the once grand royal dream like an epic.
"Damn monster... pretending to be human, it's truly nauseating."
Facing the lofty figure of the Despair Knight, George raised both her hands to chest level with fists clenched. With a punch extending straight from the arm and another clenched at the heart, she assumed the most fierce battle stance.
Merka also instantly created dozens of clones, handing a twisted magic wand to one of them.
"...Making impertinent remarks, insolent accusations."
The Despair Knight formed claw-like fingers, and thousands of grey flashes shot out from the throne, overlapping in mid-air and hurtling towards George at extreme speed.
